Watch The Exclusive Premiere of Jacqueline Emerson's New Single "Catch Me If You Can"

by Casey Lewis

As promised yesterday, Jacqueline Emerson, star of The Hunger Games, is releasing her brand new single "Catch Me If You Can" right here, right now. Check out the music video, and then read on to hear the singer-slash-actress spill about writing songs, going to college, and playing Foxface.

Have you always been into music?Always. When I did my first acting production, I was six years old and it was Annie, so it was also a musical. Right off the bar started with both music and acting.

Tell us a little bit about your new single "Catch Me If You Can." How's it different than your debut song?If you've heard "Peter Pan," it's more of a low-key song. It's very personal. Just me playing a piano, which is the way that I wrote it and recorded it. "Catch Me If You Can" is a lot more upbeat and a lot more pop. More of a dance tune, but there's also a deeper message to it, like all of the songs I do. It's about running away from your past and I don't know if you necessary hear that when you hear the song, but that's what I had in mind.

I wrote it last year, and then I booked The Hunger Games and so we held on to it. When we initially filmed it, we had it in this small studio space. But because it's a dance song, it needed to have more so we re-filmed it on the beach with me and my friends.

Are you more passionate about music or acting?
I feel equally about both of them. I love singing and acting for
different reasons. What I love about music is that its a great way to
express yourself, especially songwriting. Instead of journaling, for me,
it was sit down and write a song about it. It allows me to let my
emotions out. The same goes for playing the piano--just randomly playing
whatever my hands come down on and singing along with it. Singing is
just so personally expressive.

What I love about acting is being about to transform yourself into this
new person, who may have so much similar or may have nothing similar at
all. I love being able to capture and become one with that.

What music can you not stop listening to?
Adele. I am so obsessed with her sound and her singing and her music. And her as a person!

What's your favorite song on The Hunger Games' soundtrack?
I have to say I love "Safe & Sound" by Taylor Swift. I'm thinking of doing a cover.

Jennifer Lawrence was rumored to sing a song on the soundtrack--did you guys ever sing on set?
Yes, all the time. We would have dance parties in our trailer and we
would always sing. During the cornucopia scene, we would be on our
pedestals singing and dancing.

How are you different from Foxface?
I'm am very different. With acting, you get to be people that you aren't
in normal life. She's a bit smarter than I am. She's a genius. She's
very, very sly and cunning and smart. She figured out so much stuff in
the games that I wouldn't have figured out.

If I was in the games, I would pull a Foxface and not kill anyone. I
would run and hide the whole time. I wouldn't get into the fray. I would
steal food. A good combination of rue and foxface.

The is a big month for you! Will you see The Hunger Games on opening day?
My friends bought 20 tickets to see the midnight opening. I would be at
the theater on Thursday even if I wasn't in the movie, because I was
such a big fan before I got cast.

So what's next for you?
I have couple of project in the works, and music-wise I'm going to get
back in the studio soon. I have a couple more songs that I want to
record. And I just got into Stanford, and I'm really excited about that.
I might defer a year, but college is my #1 priority and I will
definitely be going.